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Concerning the knowledge which the ancients
had of India and the progress of trade with that country prior to the
discovery of the passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope with an appendix
containing observations on the Civil Policy, the Laws and Judicial
Proceedings, the Arts, the Sciences, and Religious Institutions of the
Indians by William Roberson, D.D. (1822)
Preface
The perusal of Major Rennell's Memoir for illustrating his
Map
of Indostan, one of the most valuable geographical treatises that
has appeared in any age or country, gave rise to the following Work. It
suggested to me the idea of examining more fully than he had done in the
Introductory Book to my History of America, into the knowledge which the
Ancients had of India, and of considering what is certain, what is
obscure, and what is fabulous, In the accounts of that country which
they have handed down to us. In undertaking this inquiry, I had
originally no other object than my own amusement and instruction: But in
carrying it on, and consulting with diligence the authors of antiquity,
some facts, hitherto unobserved, and many which had not been examined
with proper attention, occurred; new views opened; my ideas gradually
extended and became more interesting; until at length I imagined, that
the result of my researches might prove amusing and instructive to
others, by exhibiting such a view of the various modes in which
intercourse with India had been carried on from the earliest times, as
might shew how much that great branch of commerce has contributed, in
every age, to increase the wealth and power of" the nations which
possessed it.
Thus the Historical Disquisition which I now lay
before the reader was begun and completed. What degree of merit it
possesses, the Public must determine. My grateful recollection of the
favourable manner in which my other works have been received, naturally
increases the solicitude wilh which I wait for its decision concerning
this which I now publish.
When I first turned my thoughts to this subject, I
was so fully aware of the disadvantage under which I laboured in
undertaking to describe countries of which I had not any local
knowledge, that I have been at the utmost pains to guard against any
errors which this might occasion. I have consulted, with persevering
industry, the works of all the authors I could procure, who have given
any account of India; I have never formed any decided opinion, which was
not supported by respectable authority; and as I have the good fortune
to reckon among the number of my friends, some Gentlemen who have filled
important stations, civil and military, in India, and who have visited
many different parts of it, I had recourse frequently to them, and from
their conversation learned things which I could not have found in books.
Were it proper to mention their names, the Public would allow, that, by
their discernment and abilities, they are fully entitled to the
confidence which I have placed in them.
In the progress of the Work, I became sensible of my
own deficiency with respect to another point. In order to give an
accurate idea of the imperfection both of the theory and practice of
navigation among the Ancients, and to explain, with scientific
precision, the manner in which they ascertained the position of places,
and calculated their longitude and latitude, a greater portion of
mathematical knowledge was requisite, than my attention to other studies
had permitted me to acquire. What I wanted, the friendship of my
ingenious and respectable Colleague. Mr Playfair, Professor of
Mathematics, has supplied; and I have been enabled by him to elucidate
all the points I have mentioned, in a manner which, I am confident, will
afford my readers complete satisfaction. To him, likewise, I am indebted
for the construction of a map necessary tor illustrating this
Disquisition, which without his assistance I could not have undertaken.
I have adhered, in this Work, to an arrangement I
followed in my former compositions, and to which the public has been
long accustomed. I have kept historical narrative as much separate as
possible from scientific and critical discussions, by reserving the
latter for Notes and Illustrations. I flatter myself that I may claim,
without presumption, the merit of having examined with diligence what I
submit to public inspection, and of having referred, with scrupulous
accuracy, to the authors from whom I have derived information.
College of Edinburgh,
May 10. 1791.
Contents
Section I
Intercourse with India, from the earliest Times until the
Conquest of Egypt by the Romans.
Section II
Intercourse with
India, from the Establishment of the Roman Dominion in Egypt, to
the Conquest of that Kingdom by the Mahomedans
Section III
Intercourse with India, from the Conquest of Egypt by the Mahomedans, to
the Discovery after Passage by the Cape of Good Hope, and the
Establishment of the Portuguese Dominion in the East.
Section IV
General Observations
Appendix
In which he makes some observations upon the genius, the manners, and
institutions of the people of India.
Notes and Illustrations
Index
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